CAMPAIGNERS last night blamed the closure of a Merseyside care home for the deaths of four of its former residents.

Delamere House in Sutton, St Helens, closed six weeks ago despite a legal challenge at the High Court in which relatives tried to keep the 27-bed home open.

Last night, the former leader of the relatives' group which brought the action confirmed four residents had since died.

One of the four, Colin Nuttall, 61, died of a bronchial infection four weeks after being moved to Green Park nursing home in Warrington on May 11.

The father-of two's heartbroken brother, Aubrey Nuttall, 67 said he believed Colin would still be alive today had he not gone through the trauma of moving.

Retired roofer Colin Nuttall was admitted to the home in Spring 2002, which specialised in care for the elderly with dementia, after suffering a breakdown linked to a long-term illness.

His brother said: "When Colin was first moved out he was walking and you could get him to say a few words but within two days of arriving in Green Park he really retreated into himself.

"His eyes were glazed over and he would just lie there, he just wasn't responding.

"I know it was a bronchial infection that killed him but in my eyes I don't think he could recover from the trauma of being taken out of his familiar surroundings with staff he knew."

Another former Delamere resident, Hilda Finch, also died within weeks of being moved.

The deaths of two other elderly residents, Helen Hartley and Norman Eden, who are believed to have died within weeks of moving to Green Park were confirmed by the former leader of the Delamere relatives group, Betty Robinson, also of St Helens.

"The judges and the lawyers knew some of these people would die but they just let it happen.

"Everybody knows people are dying yet they are doing nothing."

Earlier this year a judicial review was sought by the families of nine of the 27 elderly residents after the owners of Delamere House announced the closure.

Southern Cross Healthcare Ltd said the business was no longer viable as it was running at a loss of &#xA3;13,000 a month.

Lawyers for the residents claimed the council should have paid higher fees to Southern Cross to keep it open.

Their lawyer, Yvonne Hossack, claimed the council was failing to protect the residents' right to life because to move them would most likely lead to their deaths.

But in April a High Court judge ruled that the residents' human rights had not been infringed by St Helens council, which had offered a small increase in fees which was rejected by Southern Cross.

Last night, Ms Hossack described the closure as "disgraceful".

She said: "These deaths just serve to prove evidence we presented to the court that there is a real risk caused by the trauma of moving elderly people from care homes."

Ms Hossack is now preparing to take the Delamere case to the European Court of Human Rights where she hopes to win a retrospective ruling in favour of residents.

Another relative, Edna Henderson, 63, of Marsland in Sutton, St Helens said her ex-husband Peter, 65, was "heartbroken" after being moved from Delamere to the Victoria nursing home in Rainford.

"He just lies there looking and not speaking, he doesn't say much apart from he wants to go back to the old home. It think it is absolutely disgusting the way people are moved about.

"They are not treated as real human beings and in the end of the day it all comes down to money."

Professor David Jolley, a specialist in psychiatry at Penn hospital in Wolverhampton, submitted a report detailing evidence of a potential risk of death to residents to the judicial review in April.

Last night he said he was "deeply saddened" by the news of the deaths.

"Both the council and the home-owners were warned of the risks, they had copies of my report but unfortunately they made a financial decision."

A spokeswoman for Southern Cross Healthcare said last night: "Relatives of residents at Delamere House were given much more than the required time to make arrangements for alternative accommodation.

"During the discussions, we worked closely with the relevant authorities to ensure the welfare and wellbeing of the residents at all times, as this is always our highest priority.

"Despite lengthy negotiations between ourselves and St Helens Council, the issue of funding the specialist care requirements of the residents could not be resolved.

"Because we could not offer the level of care that we would wish at such low rates of funding, the decision was made to close Delamere House."

A spokeswoman for St Helens Council said: "Since the council was informed we have been working with families to find alternative places for the residents in a way which would keep disruption to an absolute minimum."